I am from Barcelona

We live in a democracy, and this means that we enjoy participation systems that allow us to choose who will represent and govern us, but which can also serve to ask us what we think about the celebration of Winter Olympic Games. It is not too clear what the criterion is by which we are asked about a sports competition but not about the expansion of an airport, but what is clear is that when we are invited to vote in a serious way, we can only do so where we are registered. The right to vote is linked to the place of residence, which implies that your opinion only matters if it is related to the place where you live.

That is why I will not be able to vote on possible winter games, because I do not live in Alt Pirineu or Aran, just as I would not have been able to vote on the airport because I do not live in El Prat de Llobregat, or on the Diagonal tram because I do not live in Barcelona. My voting rights cannot be limited by place of residence because what defines my identity are my interests and my commitments. Perhaps I do not live in Barcelona, but I am from Barcelona, and from a lot of other places.

I was born in Girona and grew up in Figueres, son of a father from Maçanet de la Selva and a mother from Tordera who ended up going to Siurana d'Empordà. While studying, I shared a flat in Cerdanyola del Vallès, I fell in love with a girl born in Terriente, a town in Teruel, with whom I have lived in Sabadell for a long time and founded a company that has its headquarters in Sant Cugat del Vallès but has also opened offices in Bogotá, Lima or Madrid. I participate in different social and cultural entities that have their headquarters in Barcelona and I move almost daily through its streets. I have never lived in Barcelona, but I am from Barcelona.

The letter of citizenship should not be linked so much to the place of residence but to the degree of commitment, and what we should accredit is not a domicile but an activity. If I prove to be a regular user of Barcelona's cultural proposals, I should be able to participate when consultations are made about it. If I prove that I often go to a certain street in Barcelona for work, I should be able to give my opinion on the tram. If I prove that I am employing 50 people in an office building in Sant Cugat, I should be able to give my opinion on public transport access in that area. There are certain activities that should grant access to certain participation rights, regardless of the place of residence. Right now I have all the citizenship rights in Sabadell, but none in Girona, Barcelona or Sant Cugat, to give three examples with which I feel very involved for different reasons.

The letter of citizenship should not be linked so much to the place of residence but to the degree of commitment, and what we should accredit is not a domicile but an activity

We are no longer in the 18th century and with current technology it is perfectly possible and reasonable to manage my rights in a disaggregated and better way, instead of concentrating them all around an idea as concrete as the domicile.A city is not only a political system but also a platform for services, relational spaces, and economic and cultural activity. It is reasonable that I cannot choose who should occupy the mayor's office in Barcelona, but it is not normal that I cannot participate in decisions that affect its cultural policy. It is normal that I cannot give an opinion on the waste collection system in Sant Cugat, but it is strange that I cannot intervene in mobility plans where I cause daily commutes for workers. There are things about Barcelona that should be decided taking into account the opinion of those who live in Figueres.

With current technology, Netflix, Google, CaixaBank, or Telefónica are perfectly capable of managing and adapting their services in an extremely personalized way for each of us, and in this context it is increasingly difficult to understand why the administration still manages us with aggregated and massive criteria. We are in the 21st century: the concept of citizen identity, and the rights and duties derived from it, demand an update.